The transport of a commercial number of glass sheets or panels has one primary concern, namely keeping the glass intact until it is delivered and/or Installed.
It is known in the prior art that sheet glass is normally tilted during loading, unloading and transportation of the glass. If stacked vertically, perpendicular to the ground, such glass can easily can tip and fall over, giving the same effect as a row of dominos knocking each other over. Therefore, glass products tend to fall out during loading or unloading. This obviously leads to the problem of breakage.
The deficiencies in the typical prior art shipping arrangements are evident in that the vehicle glass industry allows for 3 percent breakage as a standard during the shipping of glass products.
Prior art devices to hold glass in an inclined position have succeeded in minimising breakage but improvement is still possible. For example, McDowell U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,946 discloses a container for shipping sheets of glass. A front portion 16 including two end walls 17 are 18, a top panel 20 and end extension panels 22 and 23 is Illustrated in FIG. 2 of that patent. The container disclosed in McDowell requires the use of a paperboard and frame box which provides most of the support for the glass products. The box is secured to a large wooden pallet (12). The paperboard, frame and pallet can deteriorate from moisture and use. McDowell further discloses the disadvantage of shipping the glass vertically. McDowell teaches that the glass can be set in an inclined position during the unloading of the glass. Two wedge members, 42 and 43, comprised of separate, corrugate material, hold the glass vertically during transport. The wedges 42 and 43 must be removed and the glass products repositioned in order to tilt the glass backward toward a cradle 52 during unloading to avoid the problem of glass falling forward with potential breakage of the glass. Prior art devices such as McDowell, when put in use, typically required the user to insert a block of wood under the front of the pallet to prevent glass from falling forward and breaking during loading and unloading. The container disclosed in McDowell requires the use of a paperboard and frame box which cannot be reduced in size. If the McDowell container is Intended to be reused, the container must be returned empty but in its original size.
Devices such as these or other assemblies that maintain the glass panels in an inclined state are typically used for the transport of a relatively smaller number of glass panels or sheets, normally fewer than ten sheets not only for the minimisation of breakage but also for weight reasons, as glass can be particularly heavy.
It would therefore be an improvement in the art to provide a rack that allows transport of a large number of glass panels, preferably in a substantially vertical orientation which will minimise space used. Further, it would be advantageous if the rack could transport the glass panels in a spaced apart configuration to minimise damage to the panels that may occur without breaking them such as scuffing or scratching.
It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.